Friday, August 31, 2007

A few hours ago, I have been updating myself with the video game world. Yes, I am a product of the video game console generation, starting from Atari 2600, to the Sony Playstation. I consider Super Mario World from the Super Nintendo and SaGa Frontier from the Playstation as two of the best games I have ever played and beaten. However, after graduating from high school, I severed ties with my fascination towards the gaming world after realizing how Tekken Tag Tournament alone took about a thousand pesos off my allowance money, while toiling hours on role playing games such as the Final Fantasy series nearly killed the development of my social life.

However, out of curiosity and watching too many Angry Video Game Nerd videos from Screw Attack, I was compelled to check out the featured videos of Final Fantasy and Metroid from Gametrailers.com. My curiosity turned out to be a look back in the good ‘ole days.

Watching the Final Fantasy Retrospective was awe-inspiring. The orchestral theme from Final Fantasy VII still gives me goose bumps up even after a decade, while my ass hairs grow a centimeter longer. Ah, the sensation. Anyway, Final Fantasy VII deserves the high praises and recognition from gamers and is known as the game that broke Squaresoft into gaming mainstream consciousness. Despite the release of countless RPG titles that led to the eventual saturation of the genre, FFVII will always stand out as the game that started it all.

But I would like to remember FFVII as the game I played late every night with my friends during the summer of 1998, just after playing in our annual village basketball league. Next thing you know, I was transported back to my childhood, when all that mattered were playing video games, eating baked ziti from Sbarro, and listening to “Save Yourself” by Stabbing Westward and “Dropping Anchor” by Jimmy's Chicken Shack ad nauseam. The Retrospective featured on Gametrailers.com reinforced the notion that video games do indeed make for good memories.

On the other hand, watching the Metroid Retrospective, an awesome 2-D side-scroller turned first person adventure, had me thinking of buying either the DS or the PSP. Maybe I’m still not yet through with gaming after all.